Reviews

Magnificent Morocco

What an exciting adventure my trip to Morocco was with nearly everyday a new city/town to visit in just over two week period. I thoroughly enjoyed the culture past and present, the historical buildings, the vast landscape and the many people along the way.

Good overall

The main concern was the variability of the accommodation. From a dreadful first hotel in Casablanca – noisy and impersonal – a splendid one in Essaouira and a pleasant but out of the way one in Fez and several rather mediocre places. We were fortunate to have the friendly and informative guide Mohammad and a great driver, who never left us feeling concerned on some challenging roads, Ibrahim – thanks to them both. The route was wrong – driving past Marrakech to spend days at Essaroia and then driving back to Marrakech! Too many local guides were evidently on commission – the one in Fez took us to 4 factory/shops and a pricey restaurant – mind you we skipped off and ate for 20% the cost nearby! Todra gorge was a disappointment with a rather isolated hotel; apart from meeting a delightful family high on the hill above the town and a great meal with another family. The best of the trip was Essarooria, eating with families and the splendid introduction to culture provided through Mohammad – Bert’s museum in Marrakech, the Sand Pigeons band’, colorful markets and friendly people and great cheap eats cafes where the 4 of us always filled up for less that £10!
The worst, the night in the grubby Sahara camp – a real low light! Poor quality touristy nonsense – a Berber camp!!

Most Inspirational Moment

The friendly colourful people - well worth a visit - felt very safe at all times.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Splendid and a great driver and very good vehicle. Excellent to ensure we had bottled water in the mini bus each day!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Ask - our guide was always open to our requests and suggestions -it's your holiday.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Nigel for his feedback. We are pleased he enjoyed his time in Morocco overall, but we are sorry he was disappointed with certain aspects of the trip. We regret that he did not enjoy Todra Gorge, as the feedback we receive about this is usually very positive. We appreciate Nigel’s feedback regarding the route, however because our departure airport is Marrakech, the route takes us back there after spending time in Essaouira; it also allows for clients who are flying on elsewhere. We are sorry that Nigel was unhappy with the hotel in Casablanca and the Bedouin camp in the Sahara. We have revised the itinerary for 2019 and neither this hotel nor the camp will be used.

Frances Spowart – Product Manager for Morocco

Mixed results

Some good points and some not so good. We saw and learnt a lot about Morocco. Good company on the trip. Excellent driver. Good hotel in Marrakesh. Lots to see and do. We would have preferred less time traveling, up to 8 hours on 2 occasions, and would pick a trip with fewer stops and less travel another time. A lot of hotels claimed to have AC, but the only hotel with working AC was the last one in Marrakesh. It was very hot with no through air in hotels/gieghts so sleep was difficult. The trip to the Sahara was really a waste of time; just a tourist trap. The hotel, had no working AC, temperatures were 40C and to sleep, we had to lie outside. The camel ride, OK, but we had to wait all day with nothing to do, except use the pool, for a night in a Bedowin Camp, which was no such thing. A number of these camps have been erected in the dunes and are purely for tourists. The staff live in the village our hotel was in, the woman prepared the food and men drove it out on ATVs and then served it. Not authentic at all!
We, and others, had spent considerable time purchasing goods and carrying them from North America, for the Berber village you support, but we had considerable problems trying to find who to leave them with. Our guide was no help with this, despite many questions on the subject, and finally, we visited a local family and passed the items over to them. Since Exodus really push the giving, which we support, arrangements to pass over the items should have been made. By the way, you advertise the walk to the village as an hour and half walk. Better to describe it as a 5Km walk. The hotel in the village, by the way, was very good with attentive staff.
Just a thought, but there is a good train service between Marrakesh and Casablanca which may be a more interesting method of travel instead of air.
Another suggestion. Let people know they can’t use up there Morrocan currency in the departure lounge for Duty Freed goods. It can only be spent on locally produced goods. We understand why, but better customers are for warned.

Most Inspirational Moment

The mosque in Casablanca. The 4 hour hike, 4,000ft height gain, visiting a genuine Berber, nomadic, family on route, was excellent. So was the guide provided by the hotel. Really great person. If we had know of the visit to the family before actually reaching their home tents, we would have brought some items and cash. Please instruct the Exodus guide to inform the hikers.

Thoughts on Group Leader

We were disappointed, especially over the school goods we carried out. See above. We saw quiet a few photographic opportunities, but were unable to stop. He was knowledgeable and always polite, but information was last minute, even details of what we were doing, so little time to prepare.

Advice for Potential Travellers

You see a lot on this trip and it is good value for money. However, if you would prefer to spend less time on a bus, pick a trip with fewer stops. For us, the two days of travel, there and back, for the Sahara, camel ride and so called Bedowin camp, were a waste of time.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Sonia and Philip for their review. Whilst we are pleased that they enjoyed aspects of their holiday, we sincerely regret that their experience in Morocco has left them with some disappointments.  We were particularly concerned regarding the lack of information regarding where and when donations can be distributed in Morocco. At Exodus our Responsible Travel policy is very important to us and we have many projects which support local communities across the world. We are very sorry that the Exodus leader did not provide guidance as they are given training in regards to responsible travel and they are aware that we work with a local association in Tijhza who collect these donations and distribute them. Following this feedback we are working with our partners in Morocco to make sure that leaders understand our expectations and the processes better.

Tom Harari – Responsible Travel Manager

Mules carrying luggage

Although I’ve been back home a while. I still have memories of seeing a mules loaded up with our heavy suitcases. Their legs buckling underneath. A taxi brought some of our group up the mountain so it was possible to transport our luggage down in a vehicle. I still don’t understand while animals are used to do this. It’s not quaint – it’s abuse.
PleAse look at PETA. In Jordan a collapsed horse carrying suitcases is kicked in the face by its owner. It’s time to stop this abuse. Please check no animals are used on your next holiday.
Sorry Exodus but you did not change the situation in Morocco when I complained.

Most Inspirational Moment

All of it except the use of mules.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Great

Advice for Potential Travellers

Check no animals are used on your trip. We saw donkey viciously kicked by member of staff on trip to Roman site. He worked at the site.

Reply from Exodus

We sincerely regret that Susan’s experience in Morocco has left her with such disappointment with the use of animals on the tour and has highlighted the animal abuse present in Jordan; Exodus does not use horses on our tours in Jordan due to their known mistreatment. We do, however, use mules in Morocco as it provides local employment and the environment is different to that in Jordan. Our local partners in Morocco are part of an initiative in the High Atlas to create awareness amongst local people about mule care and have held workshops for muleteers from a number of local communities in regards to mule care and welfare in association with a British organisation. Whilst we cannot control the actions of locals not working with Exodus we are confident that this training is helping to spread further education to muleteers and encourage care which puts the animal’s welfare as a priority. Exodus leaders are tasked to report any animal cruelty that they may see whilst on our tours, and they request that certain muleteers are not used on Exodus tours should they witness any cruelty towards the animals.

Tom Harari – Product Manager for Morroco 

Brilliant

We had 10 people in our group. We all got in well together marking a good start. The experience of the different places we visited gave us a good understanding of Morocco.

highlights of Morocco (AHM)

This was a good tour of Morocco – it gave an excellent overview of the country

Great Itinerary, Bad Hotels

The itinerary for this trip is great – you’ll get a wonderful overview of Morocco as you’ll visit the cities, the desert and the mountains. Our tour guide was knowledgeable as I’ve come to expect it from Exodus, and the local guides used at some sites were great as well.

What let this trip down were the hotels – they’re just not particularly good for the Standard departures. Most of them were noisy (the one in Fes is literally next to a mosque) and in need of refurbishment (Meknes), the beds were uncomfortable verging on painful, and in some cities you’re not really where the action is as you’re not staying in the Medina (Fes/Marrakech). The camp in the desert is very basic (does have toilets, though, but not much else in terms of comfort).

Personally, I felt the 2 night stay in the Atlas mountains was a bit pointless – the hammam was interesting as we got to interact with the locals, but otherwise not an amazing experience and the walk was just going back and forth on a mule track.

Highlights of Morocco

This was an amazing adventure and a great way to see as much of the country as possible, experience the culture, learn about the history, and meet the friendly locals. We had a great tour leader and driver and stayed in some authentic accommodation sites from an auberge in Merzouga, a bedouin camp in the Sahara Desert, a kasbah in the High Atlas Mountains and a riad in Essaouira.

Highlights of Morocco

It’s a good trip if you are very fit and don’t get unwell some of the hotels have no hot water some have no air con or fans highlight camel ride

Highlights of Morocco

This was the perfect tour, giving us insight into the history and culture of Morocco. It was quite varied: we visited souks in Meknes, Fez and Marrakech, the Sahara, Todra Gorge, a remote village in the High Atlas Mountains, and the Portuguese town of Essaouira on the coast. We stayed in a range of accommodations, from comfortable hotels to fairly basic but perfectly acceptable homestays (and a camp in the Sahara).